Sadly, CFN never became the creative fount of positivity I envisioned when I started this venture in February of 2009. You can’t do creative marketing for people that aren’t creative as I discovered in a chat with Andre Pommier before Bob Peters told him to stop advertising.

I was warned. I was told that Cornwall was corrupt, uneducated, impoverished, and lacking culture.

I thought I could make a difference and I did in many ways. A lot of nasty dragons have been defeated. A lot of bad guys (and girls) have left town. A few even ended up in jail. We saved beavers even if the flow through devices were ripped out eventually in Guindon Parc by mysterious parties….

At the end it’s been an adventure and like all adventures there are good parts and bad. There are cliffhangers, and there are times the hero gets to kiss the girl and not get herpes.

As I’ve always said if I ever left Cornwall it wouldn’t be because of bullies like Roy Perkins, David #metoo Murphy, Ed Lumley(an alleged wife beater as a bonus) Gilles Latour (now in the pokey) Bob Peters, Denis Thibault, Peter Gault, Rick Shaver, Guy Lauzon, Jim Brownell, Hugo Rodrigues, Chris Savard(run out of town after a few scandals) Traci Trottier, Maureen Adams, Jennifer Burke, Brian Snyder, and our future mayor Bernadette Clement, Elaine MacDonald and their Pink Posse…there are so many more, many sneakily who work in the shadows. (Tammy Hart gets bonus points even if she’s in South Stormont)

The irony is these impotent bullies are enabled by the likes of Randy Sauve, Dwight Dugas, Tracy Champagne, Kathy Coffey, Neil MacMillan, John Towndrow, and far too many to name and frankly who aren’t worthy of naming, circling around hoping for a few crumbs or billboards.

Life is short. Talent is an awesome thing and those of us with some have to cherish that gift and use it wisely.

Cornwall Ontario isn’t the greatest place to invest. It’s not the place to go if you seek attention either ( I always laughed at that lame accusation, I mean, honestly, who would come to Cornwall to get famous?) and sadly it’s shown that it’s not a place to raise a family or build a business. It’s not that you can’t, but it’s like hoping to live to 100 by smoking 3 packs of ciggies per day.

Like the toons in Who’s Afraid of Roger Rabbit the town will be Big Boxed over. It already has in a small way when you contrast the mediocrity of Brookdale with the ghostly strip that is Pitt Street.

It’s a town of cowards who enable the even more mediocre bullies that rule it so inefficiently that what could be a gold mine is routinely overlooked by so many. It’s essentially a government services town where if you aren’t working for CAS, CCH, CCPS, CFS, EOHU, or any other government agency or school board, your income is pretty darn well below the provincial average. And that means towing the line…or else!

It also has more self hatred than any place I’ve ever lived and I’ve lived in a few. If you want to hear this poor city rundown talk to a local, especially if they’ve moved away as I have far too often recently.

I’ve seen a lot of good people leave in the last 18 months with more moving in the next 12.

With all this there still are pebbles of goodness, even if they are meek and dimly lit.

Ten years of investment in a community is enough in my opinion. It’s time to give someone else a chance.

There have been many in this town that have judged yours truly; like the very special person who chastised me for not graduating University and when I clicked on their facebook profile, they were studying to get their GED.

While ten years have flown by without me judging others there clearly is plenty to judge and the verdict for most wouldn’t be pretty…but that will come out in Dirty Town Under a Crooked Bridge which will be finished in February.

What the new owners will understand, what so many in Cornwall don’t, is that it’s always the audience that counts, not the writer, publisher, editor, or bottle washer. It’s always about the viewers and it drives many of the “clique” nuts, even as they themselves read our pages, that so many read CFN inside and outside Cornwall Ontario.

Do you want the chance to own this awesome newspaper? Email jamie@cornwallfreenews.com if and have the cash to back it up or dial 855 444 1133. 2017 TRAFFIC NUMBERS & REACH LINK

Since you’re here …

… we’ve got a small favour to ask. More people are reading the Cornwall Free News than ever, but far fewer are paying for it.

Advertising revenues across media are falling fast. And unlike some other news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism open to all. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. CFN’s independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective, too.

If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps to support it, our future would be much more secure. Please click the donate button below.

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CFN has a new comment policy as of July 11, 2017.

You must use your real first and last name. As well if your email bounces we will terminate your posting privileges.

We value all input from our amazing CFN viewers and are always trying to improve the viewer experience which includes making this a safe, informative, and entertaining platform.

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Jamie, I don’t blame you one bit for wanting to sell the number one information newspaper in town. You’re absolutely 100% right in your comments about the corruption here in Cornwall. They should all be locked up but we don’t have enough cells for these ash holes. If I had the money to buy your paper, I wouldn’t buy it because of the corrupt city leaders.

Vote Up-4Vote Down

September 10, 2018 7:02 PM

Member

Pete Walbee

As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m looking to relocate in Brockville or Merrickville

Pete the Seaway News has been for sale for over a year. It’s a tough time to sell media although CFN could be rebranded and move being digital. Cornwall can’t be rebranded. I can’t tell you how much we’ve lost to outside markets because of the soiled Cornwall Ontario brand which apparently my biggest crime was trying to improve. Remember this is a city government that fought a program to have viewers write in about why Cornwall is awesome and then win local shopping sprees. The mayor called it, during a live council meeting, a security issue….it’s on camera.

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September 11, 2018 2:42 AM

Guest

jules

Jamie your paper is the very best and yours is the first that I look at and I will miss you very much and wish you the best wherever you go. You can have plenty of laughs about me and it will cheer you up when you feel down. Cornwall is exactly what you described and educated people leave and don’t stay down there at all. You are a good man and I will miss you very much. Jamie all the best.

Hugger for over a decade I’ve been saying we need the ward system for Cornwall, especially in the East End and le Village. High population density, low resources. Total inequity which holds the city back.

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September 12, 2018 8:02 AM

Member

Hugger1

I agree. as it is now with 10 councillors no one is responsible for an area. Make it ward based and have councillors responsible for areas. That way problems can be dealt with more easily and quickly. I’ve been saying for a while the ward system is the way to go.

Vote Up-1Vote Down

September 12, 2018 8:39 AM

Guest

jules

Jamie’s paper is the best and not just because I like Jamie but because he tells the truth. All other papers are nothing but pure garbage. Whether you like the truth or not Jamie tells it like it is. I remember some good times in Cornwall as well as the bad and as society goes forward things get worse since people are not civilized these days. I wish all the best there is for Jamie.